This smoked ham is coated in a homemade spice rub, cooked in a smoker, then brushed with a homemade brown sugar and maple glaze. The ultimate holiday ham recipe that doesn’t require any oven space!
I love a good holiday ham, some of my favorites include pineapple ham and Coca Cola ham. This smoked ham is tender and full of flavor from the sweet and savory spice rub and glaze. It’s become a must-have at all of our family celebrations.
My biggest problem with cooking for the holidays is that I run out of oven space. You can only fit a few things into the oven at one time, and I find that sometimes things don’t cook properly if the oven is too full. I solve this problem by relying on other cooking methods. I make Crock Pot ham, Instant Pot ham or this smoked ham. Smoked ham cooks outside on the smoker, leaving you plenty of oven space. It also happens to taste absolutely amazing!
Enjoy this ham with Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner favorites like Southern cornbread dressing, candied yams and homemade dinner rolls.
Table of Contents
Smoked Ham Ingredients
To make this smoked ham with brown sugar glaze you will need a bone in ham, BBQ rub, butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, apple cider (not apple cider vinegar) and fresh fruit and herbs to garnish your plate. See the recipe card below for amounts and details.
How Do You Make Smoked Ham?
The first step in the process is to load your smoker with wood, preheat it and spray a disposable aluminum pan with cooking spray. Next, coat your ham in a BBQ spice rub. Place the ham cut side down in your pan and place it in the smoker. After the ham smokes for about an hour you’ll want to start basting it every 30-45 minutes with apple cider. This keeps the ham from drying out. If you feel like your ham is looking a little dry, you can always cover it with foil inside the smoker after that initial hour.
Once the ham temperature reaches around 135 degrees F, start preparing your brown sugar glaze. Place butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and apple cider in a pan. Cook everything on the stove for a few minutes at medium heat until the glaze thickens. Remove the pork from the smoker. Brush the glaze all over the cooked ham and dinner is ready!
What Temperature Do You Smoke A Ham?
I smoke my ham at a temperature of 250 degrees F. You can also run your smoker at a higher or lower temperature, just be aware that the cook time will change accordingly.
Tips For The Perfect Smoked Ham
- I use a pre-cooked, spiral cut ham for this recipe that is around 7 pounds.
- I really feel like it’s worth it to take a few minutes to make my homemade BBQ rub which has the perfect amount of sweet and savory seasonings. If you’re short on time, store bought will work too.
- You can rub your ham right before smoking it, or season it the night before to let the spices fully permeate the meat.
- I recommend that you smoke your ham in a disposable aluminum pan to keep the mess to a minimum.
- Be sure to place the cut side of the ham face down in the pan as shown in the photos.
- Garnish your ham with an assortment of herbs and fruit such as grapes for a beautiful presentation.
Quick Tip
Use a meat thermometer to make sure the thickest part of your ham reaches 140 degrees F.
Recipe FAQs
Smoked hams are typically already cooked through. When you cook them you are actually just heating them up. If you cook your pre-prepared hams with a smoker, you actually end up with a twice smoked ham. Despite being twice smoked, the smoke flavor is not overwhelming at all and is absolutely perfect when paired with a homemade glaze.
For a bone in ham, you’ll want to estimate about 3/4 pound per person that you’re planning to serve.
It typically takes about 20 minutes per pound to smoke a pre-cooked ham. The internal temperature of the thickest part of the ham should register 140 degrees F when completely warmed through. I find it works best to use a remote thermometer so that I can leave the probe in the ham inside the smoker, yet still monitor the temperature of the ham from inside the house.
I use apple wood chips for this recipe, it compliments the apple flavor in the glaze and doesn’t impart an overly smoky flavor. Other good choices would be hickory or cherry wood.
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Flavor Variations
While this recipe is delicious, you can adjust the ingredients to suit your own taste.
- Spices: For a classic holiday flavor you can add to your glaze warm spices like a pinch of ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground all spice or ground cinnamon. Mix and match your favorite spices.
- Pineapple: Feel free to attached pineapple rings to the outside of your ham with toothpicks. Just remove the toothpicks before you eat the ham.
- Mustard: You can add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard to make a tangy glaze.
- Sweet: Feel free to add a little honey, molasses or apple juice to your glaze for extra sweetness.
Brown sugar smoked ham is the ultimate main course for a special occasion. It’s so incredibly flavorful and is very unique compared to your typical ham offerings!
Smoked Ham Side Dishes
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
1 hr 50 mins
Butterflake Rolls
2 hrs 20 mins
Candied Carrots
25 mins
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Smoked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients
- 7 lbs bone in ham you can go larger or smaller, just adjust the cook time accordingly
- 1/3 cup BBQ rub
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 1/4 cups apple cider divided use (not apple cider vinegar)
- fresh herbs and fruit for garnish
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat a smoker to 250 degrees F. Load the smoker with cherry wood chips.
- Coat a disposable aluminum pan with cooking spray. Place the ham cut side down in the pan.
- Sprinkle the spice rub all over the exterior of the ham.
- Place the pan in the smoker and cook for one hour.
- Continue to cook the ham for another 2-3 hours, basting every 30-45 minutes with the 2 cups of apple cider.
- The ham is done when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the ham reads 140 degrees F.
- While the ham is smoking, make the glaze.
- Place the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and remaining 1/4 cup of apple cider in a pan over medium heat.
- Bring the pan to a simmer. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until glaze has just thickened.
- Brush the glaze all over the ham. Transfer the ham to a platter. Garnish the ham with herbs and fruit if desired, then serve.
Notes
- I use a pre-cooked, spiral cut ham for this recipe that is around 7 pounds.
- I recommend that you smoke your ham in a disposable aluminum pan to keep the mess to a minimum.
- Be sure to place the cut side of the ham face down in the pan as shown in the photos.
Can this be prepared in a slow cooker? I do not have grill/smoker.
Here is my slow cooker ham recipe: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/crock-pot-ham/
All the chicken wings & thigh recipes are awesome.
This is my second year in a row making this recipe and my family loves it!!
Fabulous!